They (“they” are those who you know who they are) tell us change is good; both needed and desirable, and for the most part I agree: Life is nothing if not dynamic (except in small corners of Iowa where quantum mechanics do not apply) so, I’ll agree to play my role in the Pageant and hope for the best. But when it comes to certain musical constructs, I’m constitutionally incapable of joining the random particle flow. At times like this - I mean like now - I’m remembering a couple of Foghat Albums that played endlessly in a certain living room outside of Cleveland (I’m Jersey born and bred but was heaved into the milk-fed world of the Midwest for a couple of my formative years-thanks again for that, Dad). Though no one is ever going to mistake Foghat’s Lonesome Dave Peverett, creator of the Rimbaud-like stanza
“I got Drunk last night
and the night before.
you gimme some more wine, yeah
Gonna get drunk some more”
for Marvin Gaye, there was a certain charm there that appealed to plenty of ding dongs like the young me ( ok and the old me- If “Fool for the City” comes on the radio when I’m driving-I turn into Lonesome Peter) . So, as time passes, and minds expand, I consider the ineffable aspect of that goofy band that defies change. It’s easy to point to masters of the known and unknown Universe like Becker and Fagen, or Miles Davis and rationalize that they’ve created quality works that will probably last as long as playable media. But there are deep organizing principles and extraordinary artistry behind their output. Foghat and the other utensils in the silly pop drawer (and they are legion) grabbed something base and primal, id driven I suppose, and triggered some junk DNA response that we can’t avoid.
It’s music as force, and it’s never going to change, regardless of who’s conjuring with it .
Something to keep in mind instead of Blaming it on the A-A-A-A-A-A-lcohol .
May 30th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Peter,
My wife, Joan Carlson turned me on to your Blog and I agree with you that there is something sublime about Foghat. Growing up we referred to them as F***king Foghat and their music plus early Aerosmith’s was what we partied to. They did one thing, but they did it extremely well and turned teenagers on to the power of slide guitar and boogie. Plus, they did tours with the Bluesmen that inspired them as a homage and educated people in the power of acknowledging your “primeval DNA”. I still rock out to them occasionally and besides who can beat an album cover with a guy fishing down a sewer hole? As Tap says “There’s a thin line between cleverness and stupidity” and Foghat is obviously on the right side of it.